A Brechtian perspective on London Road: Class representations, dialectics and the ‘gestic’ character of music from stage to screen
Article
Stamatiou, E. 2019. A Brechtian perspective on London Road: Class representations, dialectics and the ‘gestic’ character of music from stage to screen. Studies in Musical Theatre. 13 (3), pp. 287-298. https://doi.org/10.1386/smt_00007_1
Authors | Stamatiou, E. |
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Abstract | This article uses Brechtian philosophy to assess the role of music and song in the audience reception of the ‘verbatim musical’ London Road. The first section analyses class representations in London Road, with a particular focus on the dialectics and the ‘gestic’ role of the music and song. The second section explores how the adaptation from stage to screen further affects the dialectics of the musical and, paradoxically, serves key Brechtian aims. I focus on two dramaturgical changes in the adaptation from stage to screen: the chronological order of the narrative and the alternation of interview sections and dramatized sections, which resembles the structure of the popular drama-doc genre. Given that reordering and restaging the original verbatim numbers affected audience reception, I analyse the way the meaning is affected through the Brechtian notions of alienation and the gestic character of music. Throughout, I discuss class representations and relevant dialectical implications. |
Keywords | Brecht; class representation; dialectics; musical theatre; screen adaptation; verbatim musical |
Journal | Studies in Musical Theatre |
Journal citation | 13 (3), pp. 287-298 |
ISSN | 1750-3159 |
Year | 2019 |
Publisher | Intellect Press |
Accepted author manuscript | License File Access Level Anyone |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1386/smt_00007_1 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 01 Dec 2019 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 10 Jan 2023 |
Copyright holder | © 2019 The Author |
Additional information | The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Studies in Musical Theatre, 13 (3), Dec 2019, p. 287 - 298. https://doi.org/10.1386/smt_00007_1 |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8v6w2
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Accepted author manuscript
StamatiouSMT 30 Sep 2019.pdf | ||
License: All rights reserved | ||
File access level: Anyone |
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